Lev: Rome takes risk in expanding his empire

Jim Rome, right, sits down with actor Matthew Perry during the first episode of "Jim Rome on Showtime," which debuted Wednesday night. COURTESY OF SHOWTIME

MLâ€™S MEDIA MUSINGS

Nice move by NBC to get John Madden involved in its Thanksgiving broadcast. Madden recorded a take on family, football and tradition for the opening, and he lent his name to the player-of-the-game award. Few men have had a bigger impact on how we consume the sport.

Today there is a smorgasbord of college football — 11 games by my count — in what has become something of a post-Thanksgiving tradition. I'm fully in favor it. What else are you going to do — go to the mall?

Make no mistake: The Big Ten's adding Maryland and Rutgers was mostly about enlarging the conference's media footprint. The conference now can charge a higher sub fee in two more states, and more of its game will draw interest in two of the nation's top 10 TV markets (New York and Washington). Is that the right reason to expand? No. But it's the unfortunate reality of the money-grubbing world of big-time college athletics.

MICHAEL LEV

Sometimes you need to challenge yourself, even if you're already at the top of your profession.

Jim Rome has one of the most popular talk radio shows in the country. He has a daily TV show. Heck, even one of the horses he owns won a race at the Breeders' Cup this month.

So why mess with success? Why risk failure with a new venture on Showtime? Why go where Joe Buck went and flopped?

Rome has done basically the same show with a variety of titles since the 1990s: rant, interview, roundtable discussion, rant, see you tomorrow. And now?

"Now everything has changed," Rome said in a recent phone interview. "I think that's healthy. You need to rejuvenate yourself."

Rome is doing that with what he calls "the biggest swing I've ever taken in TV." His new hour-long series, "Jim Rome on Showtime," debuted Wednesday and will run for the next five weeks, following "Inside the NFL" (about as good a lead-in as you could ask for).

Rome, known for his rapid-fire delivery, strong opinions and provocative interviewing style, said the first question he'd ask himself is: "How's it going to be different?"

I'd describe the debut episode as an edgier, less serious cross between what we're used to seeing from Rome and "Costas Now." It still features Rome's "takes" and a forum panel — you don't want to stray too far from what got you here — plus long-form interviews with athletes (Kobe Bryant, Aaron Rodgers) and celebrities (Matthew Perry).

"The bottom line is," Rome said, "I can push the envelope and do and say some things I can't do in other places."

Rome was perfectly content at ESPN, where he was the host of the half-hour "Jim Rome is Burning." But CBS — which owns Showtime and is looking to compete with ESPN as an all-sports entity across multiple platforms — threw him a pitch late last year that he couldn't let sail by. Besides the Showtime gig, it included a daily half-hour show, "Rome," on the CBS Sports Network and a prime spot in the lineup of the CBS Sports Radio Network, which launches Jan. 2.

"Jim's an established brand," said David Berson, executive vice president of CBS Sports and President of the CBS Sports Network. "He was atop our list as we were looking at personalities we could bring aboard."

Rome loved everything he was hearing from Berson and Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports. Rome's only reservation was that he'd be doing too much. Finding the right balance between work and family is hard for anyone. It's harder when you're the host of three shows and the owner of several racehorses.

"It's the biggest concern of my life," said Rome, who lives in Irvine with wife Janet and sons Jake, 11, and Logan, 7.

"But there will be a day when someone comes to me and says, 'Hey, old man, no one cares what you have to say anymore.' My goal is to postpone that day as long as I can.

"My wife and kids know I have a different sort of responsibility and a different sort of job. It's not going to be like that forever."

In the meantime, Rome makes sure to carve out time for his family, whether it's attending his sons' athletic activities or having dinner at Javier's and seeing "Skyfall," as the Rome clan did on a recent Saturday night.

"I feel like I'm up to it," Rome said, "as long as I'm smart about it."

REMOTE PATROL

Rich Eisen has a star-studded group of pop-culture and football guests for his one-hour Thanksgiving special airing at 7 p.m. tonight on NFL Network. The lineup includes actors Rainn Wilson ("The Office"), John Slattery ("Mad Men") and Eric Stonestreet ("Modern Family") and NFL icons John Elway and Adrian Peterson. ... As expected, ESPN secured the rights to the new college football playoff that begins after the 2014 regular season. Like its agreements with the Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls, this deal gives ESPN exclusive multiple-platform rights for 12 years. The Wall Street Journal reported the price tag at $5.64 billion, or $470 million annually. ... Not surprisingly, NBC scored its highest ratings for Notre Dame football in seven years. Viewership was up 69 percent over last year. Expect ABC to get monster ratings for Saturday's Notre Dame-USC game (although attendance probably will be sparse for ESPN's "College GameDay," which starts at 6 a.m. at the Coliseum). ... NBC Sports Network will air the 100th CFL Grey Cup at 3 p.m. Sunday. Former USC defensive lineman Armond Armstead plays for Toronto, which takes on Calgary for the second-most coveted cup in Canada. ... Good-cause alert: ESPN's Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research begins Tuesday. The weeklong initiative drives awareness of and donations to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, named for former North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano.

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